Multiple productions and the international successes of plays like The Weir have led to Conor
McPherson being regarded by many as one of the finest writers of his generation. McPherson has
also been hugely prolific as a theatre director as a screenwriter and film director garnering
many awards in these different roles. In this collection of essays commentators from around
the world address the substantial range of McPherson's output to date in theatre and film a
body of work written primarily during and in the aftermath of Ireland's Celtic Tiger period.
These critics approach the work in challenging and dynamic ways considering the crucial issues
of morality the rupturing of the real storytelling and the significance of space violence
and gender. Explicit considerations are given to comedy and humour and to theatrical form
especially that of the monologue and to the ways that the otherworldly the unconscious and the
supernatural are accommodated dramaturgically with frequent emphasis placed on the specific
aspects of performance in both theatre and film.
